"You'll never bother me again," says Mombi the witch, once you drink this magic brew."

"What'll it do?" cries poor Tip.

"It will turn you into a marble statue!"

Tip's heart beats wildly.

Can a mere boy escape from a witch's evil power?

But this is Oz -- the marvelous, magical land where anything can happen!

MY REVIEW:

I have been reading this series as a read-aloud to my younger daughter. While we both loved The Wizard of Oz, we were disappointed that some of the characters from the first book weren’t present in the second.

I found this installment much odder than the first! We are introduced to a new cast of characters, including a boy named Tip, a witch named Mombi, and Jack Pumpkinhead and a sawhorse who were brought to life by a magical powder.

Mombi wants to turn Tip into a marble statue to stand in her garden, so he runs away with Jack Pumpkinhead in tow. He takes some of Mombi’s magical powder and brings Sawhorse to life so that Jack Pumpkinhead can ride him. They are on their way to the Emerald City to see His Majesty the Scarecrow, the new King. When they get there, they discover that a girl named General Jinjur and her army of female followers has staged a revolt to conquer the throne because she feels that the city has been ruled by men for too long and wants to use all the glorious gems and emeralds to make jewelry and to buy new gowns for the girls. The girls are successful in their coup and the Scarecrow flees with his new friends and they head over to the Winkies, where the Tin Woodman is Emperor. The Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman are happy to be reunited, and a Wogglebug joins the group. They all return to the Emerald City to help the Scarecrow reclaim the throne.

Dorothy and the Cowardly Lion are noticeably absent, and my daughter was disappointed about that! She actually began to lose interest in the story and, at this point, she has no interest in continuing the series. I guess that I will be reading it alone! The things that I most loved about The Wizard of Oz, the value of friendship and importance of teamwork and helping one another, are still strong themes in this installment so that makes me very happy!I liked the ending, and I actually am really looking forward to the next one in the series, Ozma of Oz. I want to learn more about her.